Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

The ball day finally arrived. Now, I was in the walk-in closet at Xavier’s bedroom, tarting myself up for the ball.

I was arrayed in a gorgeous pink lace ballgown embroidered with flowers which Prince Xavier had bought for me last week. I applied natural make-up on my face, while my hair was tied back in a waterfall plait and adorned with a flower crown.

All of a sudden, I heard a sharp knock on the door followed by Xavier’s voice, “Angela, are you nearly ready?”

“Yes, I am almost ready. Just wait a minute!” I responded.

“Hurry up, or we’ll be late for the ball!” he said impatiently.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror one more time before shouting, “Yes, yes, I’m coming.”

I made haste to open the walk-in closet door and stepped out into Prince Xavier’s bedroom.

I found Xavier leaning elegantly against the wall beside the walk-in closet. The prince looked incredibly handsome tonight. He was impeccably dressed in a snazzy royal blue suit with baby blue shirt and a blue bow tie, which contrasted nicely with his raven hair and vivid green eyes.

Prince Xavier looked at me from head to toe then commented, “Wow, you look sensational in that dress, Angela!”

“So are you! You look very posh in your new suit,” I said, returning the compliment.

“Too bad the colour of your dress wasn’t my first choice,” Xavier blurted out.

“Don’t start!” I said through gritted teeth.

Xavier’s face broke into an unpleasant grin. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.

I sighed. “Honesty, no, I’m not.”

“You are going to the party with me whether you are ready or not,” he stated.

“Why bother asking if at the end you’re only going to impose your will on me?” I queried with a sarcastic tone.

The corners of his mouth curved upwards in amusement. “Because I love teasing you.”

My only answer was a grunt.

“Before we go, here’s a little something for you!” Xavier said as he shoved a jewellery case into my hand.

“What is this?” I examined the case in my hand curiously.

“Just open it!” Xavier ordered, smiling mysteriously.

I hurried to flip the lid open and looked inside the case. I thought Prince Xavier gave me a diamond necklace, but disappointingly, it turned out to be a black collar with a small name tag and place to clip on a leash.

“What the heck is this?” I asked him indignantly.

“That’s a collar,” he replied innocently.

I sighed. “I know it’s a collar, but why did you give this collar to me?”

“Because I want you to wear that collar at the ball,” he answered.

“You what?” I squawked.

“You heard me right enough, so don’t pretend that you did not,” he said irritably.

“Yes, I heard what you’re saying, Xavier. I said ‘what’ because I only wanted to express surprise,” I clarified, annoyed.

“Oh right,” he said awkwardly.

I rolled my eyes upwards.

“What are you waiting for? Wear the collar now! We’re going to be late for the ball,” he barked out an order.

“If you think I’m going to wear the collar, you’re sadly mistaken, Xavier. Because I don’t want to wear the collar,” I said blithely.

“You fucking must wear the collar whether you want to or not. Do you hear me?” he bellowed.

“Hell, no. I don’t want to,” I yelled back.

Xavier took a firm hold of my shoulders. “Look! A whole crowd of vampires are going to the ball tonight. Most of the vampires my father invited don’t know that you’re my pet yet. So you need to wear the collar so that they can recognize you as my pet.”

“So what if nobody recognize me? Who cares?” I said with a nonchalant shrug.

“You don’t understand. If those vampires didn’t know that you’re my pet, they might try to harm you,” Xavier explained.

My brows were knitted in a frown. “Why would they wish me harm?”

He elaborated, “The guests are vampires while you’re a human. Therefore, those vampires will consider themselves predator and you’re their potential prey. You need to wear the collar as safety precautions, Angela.”

“I take your point, Xavier. But no matter what you say, I don’t want to wear that collar. Never!” I emphasized.

“Please Angela! You have to listen to me just this once! You must wear the collar at the ball! I’m only telling you this for your own good,” Xavier tried to persuade me.

“If you are really concerned for my safety, you’d better not bring me to the ball,” I suggested.

“Nice try, but you can never make me change my mind. You’re still coming to the party with me whether you like it or not,” he insisted.

“If you really want me to go to the party with you, then you should not make me to wear the collar,” I stated firmly.

“No, you must wear the collar as a protection against evil vampires,” he remarked insistently.

“I don’t need the collar to protect myself from those vampires, Xavier. I can look after myself,” I said confidently.

“Please understand, Angela! Those vampires are very dangerous. I just don’t want you to get hurt, okay?” he said, almost pleadingly.

“I’m not afraid of those vampires,” I claimed.

“Oh yeah?” Xavier sneered.

“Of course,” I said with absolute certainty.

'Because I’m one of them,I added in my mind.

'Half of them,' my conscience reminded me.

'Yeah, whatever,' I thought.

“I give you fair warning, Angela, I’m not always this generous. So, put on the collar now when I’m still asking you nicely!” he hissed, losing his patience.

“No!” I snarled savagely, “I will never ever wear the collar!”

“Are you going to cooperate or do we have to get physical?” He questioned me in a cold inquisitorial voice.

I arched my eyebrows. “Get physical?”

“Yes, if you keep refusing, I am going to slip on the collar onto your neck forcefully, and then I’ll have a witch cast a spell on the collar so that you can never take it off forever,” he threatened.

I knew Prince Xavier meant what he said, so I reluctantly had to yield to his demand. “Fine. I will wear the dang collar.”

“Do it now!“′ he demanded imperiously.

Reluctantly, I took out the collar from the case and clicked it around my neck. “Done! Happy now?”

“Couldn’t be happier.” He flashed me a complacent smile.

I set my lips in a pout of annoyance.

“Let’s go!” Xavier grasped my wrist and yanked me forward.

I wrenched myself from his grip. “Get off me! I can walk by myself.”

“Fine. Suit yourself!” Xavier preceded me out of his bedroom.

I quickly caught him up

Prince Xavier and I sauntered towards the ballroom in total silence. When the guards saw us arrive, they opened the door, revealing the ballroom that was peopled with guests in fancy dress.

Prince Xavier walked into the ballroom. Hesitantly, I entered the room behind him.

As the doorman announced the arrival of Prince Xavier, the noisy ballroom suddenly lapsed into silence and everyone stared up at the prince.

Standing at the top of the stairs, I looked down at the sea of upturned faces below. I was beginning to feel jittery as all eyes were on me at the moment. Swiftly, I covered my face with my long hair for fear that someone might recognize me as Princess Mirabelle.

Prince Xavier apparently noticed that I was acting very strangely. Thus, he queried me in mystification, “What is wrong with you, Angela; why are you covering your face like that?”

“Nothing, I just feel embarrassed at being the centre of attention,” I lied.

Unexpectedly, Xavier pushed back the curtain of brown hair from my face. He then cupped my chin in the palm of his hand and made me look at his eyes. “You don’t need to be shy, Angela. You look absolutely stunning tonight. Even I think that you are the belle of the ball,” he said sincerely.

I looked away as the colour flooded my cheeks.

“Come on, let’s go!” Xavier took my hand and intertwined my fingers in his before we descended the stairs slowly.

As we got to the bottom of the stairs, the guests, packed cheek by jowl, parted to make way for Prince Xavier. The vampire prince sashayed across the room, pulling me along with him, and then joined King Joaquin and Queen Estrella who were sitting at a large table graced with a vase of fresh flowers and candles.

Taking a seat across from the king and queen, Xavier soon greeted his parents and exchanged a few words with them.

Meanwhile, I stood silently behind Xavier, listening to their conversation with no intention of joining in. Well, not that I was invited to, anyway.

After spending a few minutes chatting with his parents, Prince Xavier said, “If you’ll excuse me, Mom, Dad, I must go and mingle.”

“Yes, please, Son,” King Joaquin responded.

Getting to his feet, Prince Xavier took hold of my wrist and guided me across the room towards a small crowd of youths. Judging by their appearances, all of them seemed to come from the royal or noble families.

“Hi, Guys, long time no see,” Xavier greeted them.

“Hey, dude, what’s up?” asked a man with black hair and darker skin tone.

Before Xavier could reply, one of his friends, who had stocky build with short fair hair, jumped in with a question, “Wow, Xavier! Who’s the beautiful girl standing beside you?”

“Guys, may I present my pet to you?” Prince Xavier introduced me to his friends.

A man who had a lean, muscular body with fair skin, blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes stared at me in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! So this attractive young lady is your pet?”

Xavier nodded in affirmative. “Yes, definitely.”

“Oh Xavier, I envy you having such a beautiful pet like her,” a tall man with a swarthy complexion and short, dark hair confessed.

“Yes, none of our pets are as beautiful as yours,” the dark-skinned man complimented.

“Tell me about it,” the man with a stocky figure agreed with him, “Our pets are nothing compared to yours.”

Prince Xavier only responded with a smug smile, while a pink flush spread over my cheeks at their praises.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” the fair-skinned man with piercing blue eyes suddenly inquired me.

“My name is Angela,” I replied, “Angela Sinclair.”

Out of the blue, the man grasped my hand and kissed it gallantly. “A beautiful name for a beautiful face,” he commented.

I felt a warm blush rise to my cheeks at his compliment. “Thanks.”

“Keep your hands off my pet, Benny!” Xavier growled at that man.

Benny quickly let go of my hand and put his hand up in a gesture of surrender. “Keep your shirt on, Man! I have no intention to flirt with your pet. I just want to show her that gallantry isn’t dead.”

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s go, Angela!” Xavier put his arm around my waist possessively and drew me away from his friends.

“Bye, Angela! I’ll catch you later,” Benny called after us.

I chuckled when I saw Xavier snorting with annoyance at his friend’s words.

Leaving his friends, Xavier then greeted the other guests and got into conversation with them. When I heard what they were talking about, I switched off because I was not interested in it, and preferred to glance around the room.

Just the size of this place amazed me. It’s like four big ballrooms knocked together into one. The ballroom was decked out beautifully in flowers, exquisite chandeliers, and coloured lights. Acres of dining tables with a vase of flowers and candles in the middle and thousands of chairs occupied one side of the room. Some guests were sitting around those tables, talking among themselves. Meanwhile, in the other side of the room was the dance floor that was swarming with the guests who were dancing to the rhythm of the music.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I suddenly saw Jasper among the press of people--correction, vampires-- who were attending this ball.

‘If Jasper is here, Maximilian must be here too, because that bodyguard and his prince are inseparable,’ I thought with some apprehension.

Sure enough, shortly afterwards, I finally spotted Maximilian, who was wearing a burgundy suit with a white shirt and black tie, at the far end of the room. He sat staring into space, like a man in a trance.

Panic seized me. ‘Oh no, I must get the hell out of here before Maximilian notices my presence,’ I thought.

I tugged at Xavier’s sleeve to get his attention.

The vampire prince finally turned to look at me. “What’s wrong?”

I leaned over and whispered something in his ear, “I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Can you hold it for a few minutes?” Xavier asked coldly.

“I’m afraid this can’t wait, Xavier. I’ve gotta go now.” I tried to sound as casually as she could when in fact, I was close to panic.

“But now, I need talk to some important guests first. So you have to wait for a moment. I promise I will accompany you to the bathroom after that,” said Xavier irritably.

“You don’t have to accompany me to the bathroom. I can go by myself,” I said testily.

He waged a disapproving finger at me. “No, no, no, I must come with you. I will not let you out of my sight for even a second. So you have to wait till I finish speaking with the guests, and then we will go to the bathroom together. Got it?”

“Please, Xavier! I’m really bursting for a pee! Please let me go to the bathroom now! I can’t help it any longer,” I pleaded.

The vampire prince sighed deeply. “OK then, let’s go now!”

Xavier hurriedly took leave of the guests, and with a firm grip on my hand, he began to pull me away from them.

I tore myself from Xavier’s grasp and dug my heels to the floor, refusing to walk any further with him. “Let go of me! I told you, you don’t need to come with me, Xavier.”

“Nonsense!” he said hotly, “I’m coming with you.”

“But--”

“Let us have no buts,” he interrupted me firmly, “I’m coming with you.”

Before I could protest, Xavier caught hold of my arm and steered me to the direction of the staircase.

‘No, no, no, Xavier can’t come with me. If he accompanied me to the bathroom, he would certainly drag me back to the ballroom. By that time, I am afraid Maximilian will eventually notice my presence here. So, it seems that I have no choice but to use my vampire power on him now,’ I thought.

I shut my eyes and tried to concentrate. Once I felt a rush of power creep into me, I opened my eyes and called, “Xavier?”

Prince Xavier stopped short when he heard his name being called. He immediately swung back to face me and inquired, “What’s wrong?”

I looked at Xavier squarely in the eyes and stated, “Listen up! I want to go alone and I order you not to follow me around. Do I make myself clear?”

Prince Xavier finally relinquished my hand and said, “Yes. Go ahead!”

A smile spread across my face. “Thanks, Xavier. Oh yes, after I leave, you’ll forget that this ever happened. Got it?”

Xavier nodded meekly.

“Goodbye, Xavier!”

I walked away from Prince Xavier in a rush, and then had to fight my way through the milling crowd to get to the grand staircase. Afterwards, I crept up the stairs, trying not to draw attention to myself. Directly I reached the top of the stairs, I made a break for the door and ran out into the corridor. Without wasting time, I hitched up the skirt of my ballgown and bolted down the hallway.

I didn’t have idea where I was heading. I just wanted to get away from the ballroom as far as possible.

’What the hell do you think you are doing, Rosanne? Go back to the ballroom now!’ my conscience commanded.

’No, I won’t go back there!’ I said in my mind petulantly.

‘You said you wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, right? Maximilian will be your only ticket to get out of here. So, go and see him now!’ my conscience ordered.

‘Yes, I want to get the hell out of here so badly. But I don’t want to ask for Maximilian’s help. How can I face Maximilian after everything I’ve done to him?! He must be furious with me now.’

‘How can you tell that he is angry with you? What if he is actually worrying himself sick about you?’ my conscience asked querulously.

‘That’s impossible! Who wouldn’t be furious to find out that his bride had run away from their wedding? Even Maximilian probably bears a grudge against me now,’ I countered.

‘Maximilian will never bear you a malice because he loves you so much, Rosanne,’ my conscience convinced me.

’No, he doesn’t love me,′ I refuted, ‘Prince Maximilian only sees me as a substitute for his dead mate.’

‘Say what you like, but you can’t ignore the fact that Maximilian is the only one who can help you to get out of this place now,’ my conscience remarked.

‘I’d rather wait for Randolph to return here and save me than ask for Maximilian’s help,’ I said stubbornly.

'Face facts, Rosanne! Randolph isn’t coming back for you and neither is your father,’ my conscience said in a cold, hard voice.

‘No, I’m pretty sure that they’re going to return here and come to my rescue,’ I said with absolute certainty.

'But you can’t just sit tight and wait to be rescued, Rosanne,' my conscience said snappily.

‘I know,’ I said, ‘I’m going to think of a way to escape from this place as soon as possible! However, if I try to escape now, I am not sure I can find my way home by myself. So I’d better wait a little bit longer in this kingdom.’

My inner voice told me that what I was doing was wrong, but I ignored her and kept running until I found a door led to the backyard. I yanked the door open, and lastly stepped out into the moonlight.